Sui Generis

Chapter seven - Logan

“Do you even have to ask?” She said.

I smiled wider and felt my cheeks flare red, but I didn’t have to bother hiding it, because the couple that skated beautifully across the floor caught her eye.

“Whoa, they’re great!” She said, eyes wide with wonder as she dreamily watched them. She looked away from them after a short amount of time and looked at her skates, focusing on keeping her balance. Then she looked up at me and met my eyes.

“Yeah, there’s always at least one couple that knows all the really fancy dancing stuff.” I said to Misty as I glanced over my shoulder again.  

“I wish I could skate like that!” Misty said as I was looking away, but I could tell she was watching them again. I faced forward and looked at her.

“Hey, thanks a lot for coming with me, again… I’m—” I found the word catching in my throat, unsure of what to say. “I’m having a really great time.” 

I felt the need to give myself a big fat face palm. I’m having a really great time— What a stupid thing to say! It sounded like some sort of line from a Disney channel movie, it was so cliché! I stared at my skate’s green laces as I tried to think of something a little more original to say. But Misty saved me by replying almost right away.

“Noo, thank you! For inviting me.” She said. I waited a few seconds before looking up, which I later wished I hadn’t. It made things a little slow and slightly awkward. For me, anyways.

“Well, you’re very welcome.” I said at last as I met her gaze, unable to stop myself from smiling. I glanced over my shoulder again, then steadied my feet best I could and looked ahead again. I wondered if she wanted to say something, or if I should be saying something else. My mind felt like molasses. But I found myself realizing that it didn’t matter if either of us said anything, I just wanted to be in this moment. And stay in it. But, to my dismay, it was flying by pretty quickly. I looked down at our hands again and felt my heart pound against my chest. An image of this exact scene flashed into my mind, except it was home… With my girlfriend’s hands in mine. I couldn’t believe that through my whole time since meeting Misty, I hadn’t thought of her even once. If I was never going to go home again, was I still technically her boyfriend? Or does that kind of fade away once I, you know… Disappeared?

But then again, here with Misty, I had a feeling that I’d never felt before. Really warm inside, if that makes sense. Like my heart was smoldering… But don’t get me wrong—  that’s a good thing! I didn’t know what I was feeling. But I knew that if it was love, I should follow it. Even if I did have a girlfriend back home… I never felt this way with her.

I looked up at Misty and saw her biting her lip, suddenly looking just a little bit uncomfortable. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, and try to do anything to make her feel better. But one last guitar riff ended the song, and the couples started splitting apart and moving off the floor. I twisted my left foot sideways to that the wheels were on their sides against the floor. With a squeak of appose from the skates, I slowed us down to a stop. 

“Great job, guys. Now these next few songs are gonna’ be for everyone to skate to. Once again, these next few songs are gonna’ be for everyone to skate to.” Misty and I dropped each other’s hands at the same time. I jumped real quick, spinning a °180 in the air, and landed so that I was facing the same way as her. I scooted backwards a bit so that I was standing beside her, then dug both my hands into my front pockets.

“So… Are you hungry or thirsty or anything?” I asked as we both moved toward the rail to avoid getting run over by the stampede of skaters returning to the floor.